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Wednesday, June 12, 2024

Basketball: Ten Ways to Simplify

Seek simplicity and clarity. How can we specifically apply?  

1. "Shave syllables." Comedy writers invest careers in "shaving syllables," reducing jokes to the core. 

Reduce the playbook and the drill book. 

2. "Brevity is the soul of wit." Keep it short. E.g. pregame example, these are our "keys to victory." 

  • Take care of the ball. No "zero percent" possessions. 
  • Trap the pick and roll, get the ball out of the PG's hands.
  • Excellent transition as this team is a transition team. 

3. Principled impact, like the Four Factors...

  • "Win the shot quality battle. Allow no easy shots." 
  • "Turnovers kill dreams."
  • "Win the war on the boards."
  • "Foul for profit." Never foul perimeter and bail out shots." 

4. Make timeouts productive. Deliver a couple of core messages.

  • "Make the easy play." 
  • Or "guys, let's stop with the bad fouls." 

5. Be redundant. What you mean most, say most. 

  • "Great players make those around them better." 
  • "Sacrifice." 
  • "Impact the game." 

6. Be specific with attention to detail. 

  • "Beat your man to halfcourt in transition."
  • "Cut urgently." 
  • "The ball is a camera." It has to see you.
  • "Show your hands" to reduce fouls.
  • "Shot fakes are 'shots not taken'. 

7. Model excellence. Lead by example. 

"Leaders make leaders." How does it feel to play for me? 

8. Increase the "pass to dribble" ratio. 

We don't 'pay by the dribble'. Make the dribble take you somewhere, get you out of trouble, set up a passing angle.  

9. Space to win. 

  • Cut to open gaps. 
  • Clear to open areas. 
  • Shrink space (load to the ball) to make offense harder for them. 

10.Efficiency wins. 

Remember Brian McCormick's message, "no lines, no laps, no lectures." Nobody learns during soliloquys. 

Lagniappe. Defense is relentlessness.  

Lagniappe 2. Riley's version of closeouts. With more and better three point shooters, coaches may choose "fly-bys" to force shooters to reset. This feels like an evolving area. 
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